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Episode 6

Five Heroes

Humanity has faced extinction five times in its history.

Each of those times were when a demon king appeared.

But for each time, a hero appears to strike them down as well.

The five heroes, consisting of both men and women, each had their own reasons. Some genuinely wanted to save the world. Others just wanted to be able to live in peace. Some just didn’t want to be annoyed. Though they had different reasons, each of them were successful in striking down their demon king.

Throughout all these differences, each had one thing in common.

Strength.

…And pale golden eyes.

–Excerpt from “The Hero and the Demon King, Chapter 1, Five Heroes” by historian Alain Kirschnell–

—

“Read this.”

As we walked toward our destination, Nanashi handed Age a book.

The title read: The Hero and the Demon King.

“What’s this?”

“This book offers a somewhat faithful depiction of the heroes of the past. I figured you ought to read it considering your powers are directly related to them. At the very least, you could better understand what they were like.”

Their memories reside in my left eye.

The fact that this exists tells me that at some point, the heroes’ memories were extracted. Perhaps getting a better understanding of each of them will help me maximize the abilities recorded in the eye.

Age then puts the book in his bag.

“Are you doing okay, Nanashi? We’ve still got a bit left until we reach the inn.”

“Don’t mind me… it’s just a kilometer away… I can handle this much…”

After a little bit more walking…

Wheeze

“Oi…”

“Nanashi…”

“What is it?”

“Are you really OK?”

“Just.. just keep going.”

She’s lying. Her face is red, she’s covered in sweat and she’s wheezing.

Age puts his bag down on the ground.

“Wha–What are you doing?

“Giving you a piggyback ride, that’s what. At this rate, it’s going to be dawn before we can leave the city.”

Nanashi carefully went on Age’s back, but paid careful attention that her chest didn’t press on him.

Age then started to walk.

“Nope. Rather, aren’t you a bit too light?”

Feeling Nanashi’s lightness, Age had choice words for Empty Throne.

Those fuckers… she’s so light. Is she even eating properly? How can anyone even consider chasing after such a weak girl?!

“Umm…”

Nanashi mumbled a bit embarrassed.

“That, umm, I’m a bit sweaty now, so I wonder if I smell bad…?”

“Wha- Why are you laughing?!”

“Just a bit surprised. I didn’t think you were the type to care about something like that.”

“MUU~ What do you know?! I AM A GIRL in the middle of puberty. It’s perfectly normal!”

“Okay, okay.”

—

Just outside the north gate of Rivaus is a sea of trees, the Eastern Forest.

Having already arrived here, Nanashi descended from Age’s back well rested.

From here, there were three routes that lead to the port town of Umineko.

The first was used by the horse-drawn carriages, whose toll we could not afford. This route was smooth and paved, but since the carriages traveled at fast speeds, it was hazardous to pedestrians.

The second route was called the Demon Road because of the obvious–demons plagued it. Only people who would like to gather materials from defeating the monsters would tread on this dangerous path.

The third route was known as a sidewalk, where the path were treated with concoctions that deterred demons. It cannot be said that no demons appeared on this route, but 99% of the time, the demons avoided the route at least in the daytime. This route is the one most people utilize and is also manned by friendly personnel.

“I suppose we’re taking the sidewalk, right?”

“Nope. We’re going on the Demon Road.”

“Why bother with the monsters?”

“The sidewalk is regularly patrolled by the Red Knights and it’ll be troublesome if we encounter them.”

The Red Knights were officially mandated to ensure the security of the country.

“Are you curious as to why the Red Knights might also be pursuing me?”

Nanashi read my mind.

“Unlike terrorists like Empty Throne, the Red Knights can be said to a good group that strive to protect the country by keeping order.

“Order, huh?”

From that statement, Age could already guess the reason why they were interested in Nanashi.

“The very fact that I can make magicians using Evil Eyes–in other words, my very existence is deemed to be a threat to peace. They fear what could happen if I were to fall into an evil organization. In fact, Empty Throne wants me alive as a tool they could use, while the Red Knights wants me dead to neutralize my threat to the status quo.

“So it seems we should be warier of the Red Knights that Empty Throne.”

“That’s right. But I can’t say I blame them for coming to such a conclusion.”

Having a kill-on-sight order levied against her for the ‘greater good’ seems to weigh heavily on Nanashi’s mind as her face looked sad at this complex thought.

“Okay, Let’s get out of here already! A monster hunt sounds fun right now~”

I didn’t try to comfort her with words, as I didn’t think she’d want to be comforted.

“Yeah, let’s go.”

Thus they entered the Demon Road.

The Demon Road was the shortest route out of the three in terms of distance. However, the path was full of slopes, crags and fallen trees.

“Well then…”

“About time we found some quarry.”

Two blue-skinned humanoid monsters approached them.

Pointy noses and pointy ears. These must be the goblins I’ve heard a lot about.

“These are Goblin Sorcerers.”

Nanashi pointed out the wands in the goblins’ hands.

“Goblins are known to rape other species, so be sure to not act mercifully to ensure my chastity!”

“All right”

Age finally came forward to fight.

The goblin sorcerers raised their wands and casted Thunderbolt at Age.

Age responded quickly and parried the spells away.

Is this the power of the Predictive Eye? Just now, the thunderbolts were moving so fast but I could still see them perfectly. What’s more, I was able to ‘cut’ them so easily.

“The opponents are magic types so let’s try to fight back with magic as well!”

“But I don’t know how to use magic…”

Nanashi laughs.

“Just listen to your eye, silly!”

About damned time.

Age then lifts his eye patch.

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